The time to install a conventional concealed, wide spread faucet is about 15 minutes for an expert plumber and about 30 to 45 minutes for an unskilled helper. When a conventional concealed, wide spread faucet is unpacked from the shipping carton, before the plumber can begin to install the faucet in the sink, the plumber first must uninstall the valve cartridges and all above deck nuts, washers, etc., which are generally on the faucet in the condition in which it is received from the factory. Thus, during the installation, the plumber must re-install the valve cartridges, and upon doing so the installer could reverse the hot and cold valves, cause a leak path during re-installation of the valve cartridges and/or damage the valve cartridges.
Other similar concealed, wide spread faucets require nuts on the top and bottom side to be tightened the correct number of turns to ensure that the faucet is installed in a level condition. This circumstance presents a current burden that plumbers would like to avoid. Plumbing companies usually hire unskilled helpers to install faucets. However, if the faucet is not installed in a level condition, then the plumber that detects the non-level installation must take corrective measures. Such measures require the plumber to take apart about half of the faucet, including unscrewing the top and bottom nuts, which requires the plumber to shift positions from above the sink to beneath the sink numerous times before the top and bottom nuts can be removed, and repeating the process after the faucet is leveled and the top and bottom nuts must be re-connected.
Still other similar concealed, wide spread faucets require the installer to connect conduits leading from each of the valves to the spigot that is disposed between the valve housings.
Conventional wide spread faucets provide control over the volume of flow per unit of time by including a flow control device installed in either the gooseneck or in the valve cartridges. In this way, the flow out of the gooseneck can be limited to two gallons per minute, four gallons per minute or whatever flow is desired. However, providing flow control in either of these ways presents its own set of disadvantages. Once installed, the gooseneck and the cartridges are easily accessible and subject to vandalism that affects the flow control device as well. Even in the absence of vandalism, over time the gooseneck and the cartridges are likely to be damaged and need replacing, and such damage likely will require incurring the additional expense of replacing the flow control device. Upon replacing a gooseneck with built-in flow control device, the user might not realize that the replacement gooseneck must be the type with built-in flow control device until after the user has installed a gooseneck without a built-in flow control device. Or the new gooseneck might have a built-in flow control device with a different flow rating that is unsuitable for the end use.
Another disadvantage of providing the cartridge with a built-in flow control device is the inability to control the overall flow out of the gooseneck. For instance, if the flow needs to be two gallons per minute and each cartridge is provided with a built-in flow control device rated at one gallon per minute, then the overall flow only becomes the desired two gallons per minute when both cartridges are open. When only one cartridge is open (hot or cold), then the overall flow out of the gooseneck is only one gallon per minute. Similarly, if each cartridge is provided with a built-in flow control device rated at two gallons per minute, the overall flow out of the gooseneck becomes the desired two gallons per minute when cartridge is open, but up to four gallons per minute as the other cartridge is opened.